.... just wavering whether want the drivetrain to be the same as before or try IGH for a new experience.

The Rohloff is an acquired taste. (IGH in general)
You have to "re-learn" how to shift but once you get it , derailleurs system feel so ...... how can I put it ........... 20th century.
It's 14 speeds but have an equal 14% between each , no ratio gaps like other IGH or derailleurs.

"There is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over" -FZ

I ran 36/17 for quite a while and liked the 17.1 to 90.1 g.i. with my Pugs which is effectively a 29er. I recently switched from 3/32" to 1/8" drivetrain. My new setup is 44/20 which gives me 17.8 to 93.6 g.i. This gives me slightly higher gearing but gear 11 is still an easy 63.8 which is the gear I ride most.

I couldn't see myself riding without my speed hub. As most of you known it changes the way you ride and considerably reduces the workload. At least it does for me.

What type of terrain do you ride your pug in? I just bought a mukluk and would like to ride it everywhere, rocky single track,the beach, along the river, rail trails and in town and really think an igh (rolhoff) would be the ticket. Your thoughts? So far i'm on the big ring and cant use the lowest gear on small ring for tire rub by the time i loose the rub i am almost at the lowest gear on big ring.

Last edited by t0pcat; 05-27-2012 at 05:31 PM.
Reason: addition

“An adventure is misery and discomfort, relived in the safety of reminiscence.” Marco Polo

@NZPeterG: That really surprises me. Perhaps I just compared a "cheap" derailleur setup to the best IGH, but I'm pretty sure my rohloff is the same efficiency or better than my old derailleur setup. I'll never go back!

Well after over 2500km's with STD (xt) Derailleur's I have find that i'm running with close (road block) i'm not missing My old Rohloff hub.
I do find that riding offroad (mountain biking) that I miss the easy of charging gears with a Rohloff Hub BUT my bike is lighter with out a Rohloff at the back.
I switch back to STD gears for a ride across Africa with "Tour d'Afrique" this year
, with a rohloff I would have been slower with head wind's etc as a Rohloff hub has wide gear spacing (13-14%) so this was why Std gearing made it better for the tour!
Yes Tour d'Afrique is 12,000km's long, I did not finish as almost died in Sudan (bad Doctor's) saved only by getting onto "Flying Doctor's" to Kenya and good Doctor's
I'm looking to go back and finish seeing Africa, Solo cycle Touring.
So i'm looking at getting a Rohloff Speedhub again (a Q/R this time) as riding with a full load and at a slower pace, it's all that's simple.
So after all i'm not over a Rohloff Hub it's just there is a right and a not so right place/time to ride with one.

As soon as I get overtaken by a Rohloff bike be it with my geared bike or even the GF ss,...well I'll swap my singlespeed rearwheel with a Rohloff-wheel.

After 4 years...it's always been the other way around.
I'm a maintainance maniak, so rarely have to deal with low geartrain-effectivity.
Mudbike is the SS, drier conditions mean geared fully or hardtail.
Even my singlespeed gets thouroughly cleaned after every ride.
I won't reveal where I ride, or the Rohloff racing team will prolly try to hunt me down

That's nice. Since I ride my first Rohloff I will never step back.
In germany there is a new bike on the market scince 2-3 years, where the Rohloff is integrated inside the frame. And it is the only bike that lasts as a gravity bike.

Tollwut integrates a shifting part of the hub in the frame.
The Bike is called Tollwut Stonedigga

Okay, I have to say will not give up my Rohloff(s). I have two fat bikes that are set up with Rohloff hubs that have made riding incredibly more enjoyable. I like to work on bikes, but hey, I don't like to on the trail. Fat bikes are designed to go in the most demanding environments and believe me the Rohloff is perfect for this app. I have tried a Nuvinci as well. It does not have enough low gear and dependability is lacking (broke 2). So, once you get used to how they (Rohloff) shift, you will be in love. I ride in snow, sand, water, hot, cold, you name it. I have never had a failure. Can't tell you how many times I had problems (especially sand and snow mix rides) where I had failures on my external drives. Yes, I take care of my equipment and even though you start out clean, you don't always finish that way. Also, I go out when I want as I have no weather deterrents for since switching to Rohloff. Yes Rohloff hubs are expensive, but add up all the chains, cogs, cassettes, derailleurs, shifters, and cables over say even a few seasons, not to mention your time fixing and cleaning- well one Rohloff is cheap in $ terms. And another thing, remember the last time you got stopped in the wrong gear on a hill on external geared drive? With a Rohloff twist the shifter and you have gear one immediately, thus most efficient in my opinion. BTW, I am over driving my hubs (not by much) and have no problems. Lastly, no I am not paid by Roholoff, but if they want to sponsor me, my answer would be a resounding yes!

Haha 6 months ago I was saying I will never use dewangers on a mountain bike again....I have a rohloff (since 2006) and had it my old full susser, and put up with the unsprung weight affecting the suspension. loved the instant shift, shifting when not pedalling, the reliability. last year switched back to a hardtail for a change, and loved the lack of tensioner and no chain noise/slap.

I switched between SS and Rohloff over the last 6 months as the mood took me...and SS felt so nice and smooth, no rumble and it felt like all my energy went to the tyre.

But I would like suspension again at some point, so I bit the bullet and fitted a 1 x 10 dewanger setup on the hardtail to see if I can get on with dewangers again...yes there are the downsides I remember, but with a narrow wide chainring and clutch dewanger...things are a lot better than they used to be. I still donlt like dewangers...but the weight saving and smooth pedalling is nice.

One day I will have a gear box full susser though....best of both worlds, with only the slight extra drag issue to deal with

I'm still digging my Rohloff. I bought it in 2008 because I didn't like 3x9. 2x10 was an improvement but still had a front derailleur. Now with 1x and clutch derailleurs, I'll say I'm getting pretty tempted. I'll probably build up a light 1x someday, but I'm still liking my Rohloff.

my A11 has zero detectable drag. it has yet to get its first oil change. On the stand on the wall, I can turn the cranks in any gear using just one finger. There was a bit of drag following the install due to a very slight misalignment between the chain and the rear cog -- lubrication and break in solved that.

To put this in context, on my daily commute I can pretty much tell you the PSI of the rear tire within a couple pounds just based on how it affects ride drag. My best guess is that the A11 probably has *less* drag than standard drive train unless it is well lubricated and in perfect chain line.

I started off first with a single speed then went all in for IGH.. I loved my Alfine 8. My 2nd one worked, it kept working, I serviced it myself and everything was cool for years… But two months ago, it needed to be serviced professionally. Shimano dealers didn’t seem keen; Shimano would not sell me the few bits I needed, not that I felt confident to “fully” strip the hub down beyond where I had before. The only reason I had two was I stripped the first one down and couldn’t get it back together.

So my choices now were, to buy a new Alfine, possibly an 11 or go back old school. At this stage I should say I use my bike for about 60% off-road stuff and some technical trail stuff – so I weighed up the weight difference and in the end (cost wise, around £350ish, not much in it) I decided to buy a new rear derailleur set up as I already had a 44-34-22 three ring front mech setup with the Alfine.

So one new Hope Evo Hub latter to match the front one, a very decent Rapid Rise XLR Rear Mech, new wheel build, decent chain and off I went. Well straight off, I was 1120g lighter (my Alfine weighed in at 1795g with all the bits), so that was all good, but having had an Alfine for – since they came out – and posting loads of positive things in this forum about them – I am loving the difference.

I always found the IGH to be great, I would unpick mine every 5000 miles, re-grease it and run 50ml of decent auto-gearbox oil within and all was good until now – and that was really only due to the very high mileage and the rough off-road duties it had to perform that I have switched. Will I go back, probably not and only because I love the weight difference and the new found vigour I have to ride it on the road faster – I suspect the increase in speed is in part due to it being lighter but also the whole rolling efficiency of the overall setup.. turn it upside down, spin the wheel of an IGH and it is nothing, even when smooth, like a Freehub.

I was also lucky to be able to sell the IGH as two separate parts and in two separate sales as I had the hub shell resprayed to match the colour of my bike (I found silver and black a small choice), so this offset the cost of the new parts.. what I miss is the comments from people asking me questions about the hub and what I thought of it and to that end, I will keep singing their praises.